Car coupler



Jan. 26 1926.

J. WESOLIK CAR GOUPLER Filed March 23, 1925 w 0. E 4 YN M, e mw m A T .va, f Z ,y/ am, Im H 3J. @f .4 l f i 1 d 0 E! j .Q d/ HMM. 5 .W n@ 0 vw.w

Patented Jan. 26, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED STATES JOSEPH WESOLIK, OF BELLEVILLE, ILLNOIS, ASSIGNOR 0FONE-HALF TO HENRY I-I.

GrERLING, OF BELLEVILLE, LLINOIS.

CAE COUPLER.

Application led March 23, 1925.

To all lwhom t may concern:

Be it known that l, Josnrrr VVEsoLrK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Belleville, Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Car Couplers, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to car couplers, and has for its main object toprovide an inexpensive car coupler of simple design and ruggedconstruction, that is composed of duplicate members adapted to bemounted on the opposed ends of two adjacent cars and each provided witha latch of such construction and arrangement that it can be used as aretaining device to hold a removableV draw bar in operative position inthe member on which the latch is mounted, or used as an automaticcoupling device to co-opcrate with the outer end of a draw bar which ismounted in the other member of the coupling, thereby enabling the drawbar to be shifted from one end of the car to the other end without thenecessity of disturbing the coupler members on the ends of the car.

Another object is to provide a car cou pler of the kind above described,which is so constructed that it will operate to automatically couple twoadjacent cars, even though the draw bar on one car is disposed at asharp angle to the coupler member on the other car, say, an angle of450.

Another object is to provide an automatic car coupler of the kindmentioned, in which the draw bar latch of each member of the coupler iscombined with a locking mechanism of simple construction and arrangementso as to lock the latch when the latch is being used as a retainingdevice for the draw bar or as a coupling device for the draw bar, andadapted to be operated manually to render said locking mechanisminoperative when it is desired to disengage the latch from the draw barduring the operation of uncoupling two cars, or during the operation ofshifting the draw bar.v

My improved coupler is capable of use 'with various kinds of railwaycars, but it is particularly adapted for use on mine cars and otherrelatively small, light-weight cars, due to its simplicity ofconstruction, low cost of manufacture and the ease with which the drawbar can be shifted or trans- Serial No. 17,708.

ferred from one end of the car to the other end.

Figure l of the drawings is a vertical sectional view of an automaticcar coupler constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is an end view of one member of the coupler, namely, the lefthand member shown in Figure l.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the coupler member shown in Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the removable draw bar.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate thev preferred form of myinvention, A designates two members that are duplicates of each otherand which are adapted to be arranged in opposed relation on two cars, asshown in Figure l, B designates a removable draw bar mounted in one ofsaid members in such a way that the outer end portion of said draw barwill enter the other coupler member A when the two cars come together,and C designates latches on the members A, the latch on the right handcoupler member serving as a retaining device to hold the draw bar inoperative positionin said member and the latch on the left hand memberA. of the coupling serving as a coupling device which co-operates withahook or other projection 1 on the end of the draw bar tov prevent thedraw bar from pulling out of the left hand coupler member. 1

The coupler members A preferably consist of castings, each of which isprovided with a boxdike portion 2 in which the latch C is arranged andhaving a hole 3 in its front wall through which the draw bar passes.Said box-like portion bears against the end sill or end wall of the carand it is provided at its lower end with a rearwardly-projecting guide4t that'receives the inner end portion of the draw bar B. The box-likeportion 2 is preferably provided with a flange 5 that increases thebearing area of the member A on the end sill or end wall of the car, andif desired, the draw bar guide 4 on said member can be provided at itssides with laterally-projecting top and bottom flanges 6 arranged aboveand below the floor ai of the'car and to which said door is attached bybolts or other suitable fastening devices 7, as shown in Figure 3. rhelatch C and the draw bar B are so proportioned and designed that therear end portion of the draw bar can be slipped endwise into either ofthe coupler members A through the hole 3 in the box-like portion otsaidmember, and after reaching a certain position in said member, willbecome locked by the latch C and securely held from endwise movement inthe reverse direction, namely, outwardly through the hole S. Sidewisemovement or lateral movement of the draw bar is prevented by theengagement of the rear end portion of the draw bar with the guide 4 andby a relatively wide, intermediate portion 8 on the draw bar that is ofapproxin'iately the same width as the box-like portion 2 of the memberA, said intermediate portion being a trifle thicker than the front endportion oit the draw bar so as to form a shoulder 9 that cooperates withthe latch C to prevent the draw bar from moving forwardly out of thecoupler member A that supports and carries said draw bar.

The latch C of each coupler member is mounted in the box-like portion 2or" said member in such a way that it is capable ot slight rockingmovement and is also capable of a slight vertical movement. ln the formof my invention herein illustrated the latch C is provided at its upperend with a horizontally-disposed pin l0 or with trunnions that projectoutwardly through verticallydisposed, elongated slots l2 in the sidewalls of the box-like portion 2 of the coupler member and is so arrangedthat it extends transversely of the opening 3 in the front wall of saidbox-like portion. To arrange the draw bar B in operative position in oneof the coupler members A the rear end por- Cil tion of said draw bar isinserted in the hole 3 in the front of the coupler member and movedrearwardly so as to position the rear end portion of said draw bar inthe guide 4, the rearward movement of said draw bar causing the latch Cto swing upwardly until the shoulder 9 on the intermediate portion 8 ofthe draw bar passes said latch, after which the latch will swingdownwardly into the position shown in Figure l, thus securely lockingthe draw bar in operative position in the coupler member. Assuming thatthe draw bar B has been positioned in one of the coupler members A, andthat it is desired to couple the car that carries said draw bar to anadjacent car, the cars are brought together so as to cause the front endportion of the draw bar to move into operative relationship with thelatch C in the coupler member A on said adjacent car. During thecoupling operation the hookshaped end portion l of the draw bar B willpass inwardly through the hole 3 in the front end of the lett handcoupler member A and exert pressure on the latch C in said member indirection te swing said latch to the left, and after the hook-shapedportion l on the draw bar has passed beyond the latch, the latch willswing dowrm'ardly into the position shown in Figure l, and thus preventthe front end portion of the draw bar from moving outwardly through thehole 3 in the left hand coupler member. l/Vhen the cars are in motionthe pulling strains are taken up by the latches C of the respectivecoupler members cri-operating with the hook-shaped portion l and withthe shoulder 9 on the draw bar and with the end walls of the box-shapedportions 2 of the coupler members against which said latches C bear.rEhe :front end portion ol' the draw bar is so proportioned that it cantelescope inside of the lett hand coupler member A suiiiciently topermit the two coupler members to come together without exerting anystrain on the draw bar in the event` the cars are traveling down grade,and thereafter, when the coupler members i separate, due to an increasein the speed ot the car ahead, there is little danger of the carspulling apart or separating, due to the fact that the shock or strainson the draw bar are taken up or absorbed by two rugged latches C o'l'relatively great width that bear against flat, vertically-disposed faceson two rugged castings connected to the end sills or end walls of thecars. The front end portion of the draw bar is of considerably lesswidth than the hole 3 in the coupler member through which said draw barpasses during the operation of coupling two cars together so. as toprovide 'for the side sway or sidewise movement of one car relatively tothe other and to permit the front end portion of the draw bar to enterthe coupler member with which it Co-operates, even though said draw barand coupler member are disposed at a sharp angle to each other, say, torexample, an angle of 45.

In order to lock the latches C and prevent them from moving accidentallyout of engagement with the shoulder 9 and with the hook-shaped portion lon the draw bar, l provide each of the coupler members A with a lockingmechanism composed of a rock shaft 13 arranged transversely ot' thecoupler member in lugs 14 on the top wall of th-e box-shaped portion 2of same and provided at its ends with arms l5 that are adapted to bemoved downwardly into engagement with shoulders 1G on the side pieces ofa bail 17 that is attached to the laterally-projecting end portions ofthe pin lt) in the latch C. Vhen the locking' mechamsm of each couplermember is arranged in the position shown in Figure l, it will beimpossible for the latch C of the right hand coupler member to move intoan inoperative position, and thus release the draw bar, and it will beimpossible for the latch C of the lett hand coupler member to move intoan llO inoperative position, and thus permit the end'portion of the drawbar to pull out of the left hand coupler member. If. however, it isdesired to uncouple the cars, the rock shaft 13 oit the left handcoupler member is swung to the right so as to move the arms 15 out ofengagement with the shoulders 16 on the side pieces of the bail 17,after which said bail can be grasped and moved upwardly so as to bodilyraise the latch C` of the left hand coupler member upwardly far enoughto clear the hook-shaped portion 1 on the end of the draw bar. In caseit is desired to shift the draw bar from one end of the car to the otherend, the rock shaft 13 of the latch locking mechanism of the couplermember that carries said draw bar is swung in a direction to release thebail 17 of said locking mechanism, thereby permitting the latch C towhich said bail is attached to be moved upwardly far enough to clear theshoulder 9 on the draw bar, after which the draw bar can be pulled outof the coupler member.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a car coupling, a coupler member adapted to be mounted on a carand provided with a box-like portion, a draw bar removably mounted insaid member and provided with a shoulder, a latch insideof the box-likeportion of said member arranged to co-operate with said shoulder toprevent the draw bar from pulling out of said member,laterally-projecting trunnions on said latch arranged in elongated slotsin the side walls of said box-like portion, a bail connected to saidlatch and arranged on the outside of said member for bodily shitting`said latch, and a rock shaft on said member provided with arms thatco-operate with said bail to retain said latch in operative position.

2, A car coupling comprising duplicate coupler members adapted to bearranged in opposed relation and each provided with a hollow, box-likeportion that has a draw bar opening in the front wall draw bar guideprojecting'rearwardly from said box-like portion, a hinged latcharranged on the inside of said box-like portion over the draw baropening in the front wall of same, a pin on said latch whose endportions pro-ject outwardly through elongated slots in the side walls ofsaid boX- like portion, a bail connected to said pin, a rock shaftarranged transversely of said box-like portion on the top wall of sameand provided with arms that are adapted to engage shoulders on saidbail, and a removable draw bar adapted to be retained in one of saidmembers by the latch of same and provided at its front end with a partthat is adapted tomove into interlocking engagement with the latch ofthe other member during the operation oi." coupling two cars together.

JOSEPH WESOLIK.

of same, a i

